Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC Sells 370 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC lowered its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 11.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 370 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MET. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE MET opened at $78.86 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $52.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.92.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. MetLife’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.